News Weekly is our column, where we highlight and summarize some of the week's top stories so you can catch up on the latest tech news.
This is Android Central's News Weekly, your go-to source for a concise roundup of the week's most significant tech stories. This is where we delve into the top headlines that provide the latest developments and innovations contributing to the digital landscape.
This week, the tech world saw Google's fresh round of layoffs, HTC's comeback with a new phone, Samsung teasing more of its devices, Qualcomm's Q2 point to a recovery, and Google messages just got better. Let's get into it.
Google makes job cuts, again.
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Not a week goes by when Google doesn't make it to the headlines. This time, in a fresh round of layoffs, Google let go of 200 of its 'core' employees to move faster and align with the company's goals.
These core teams were responsible for the technical foundation behind many of Google's products and services for security and online safety. The company has also reportedly started a "reorganization" that moves roles to India and Mexico.
Documents obtained by CNBC also suggested that employees found out about these cuts a week before they were announced, with Google stating that it would help it align with its "broader goals." Google's vice president of its Developer Ecosystem, Asim Husain, informed staff that "this was the biggest planned reduction" for the team in 2024, during a town hall. These cuts come at time, after Google's Q1 earnings report announced a whopping $80.5 billion in revenue with "strong performance" across services.
Google confirmed these layoffs, and a spokesperson added that those affected can reapply for other roles within the company.
HTC's new phone could get a major upgrade
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HTC is a name that you might think is off the market, however, they are still in the smartphone scene. While they don't churn out smartphones as often as other brands, a new leak indicated that its U24 Pro could give them another entrant in the market.
According to Android Headlines, it looks like the Taiwanese company might be getting ready to introduce the HTC U24 Pro this month. Even though there's no official word on the exact date yet, the U23 Pro was launch in May last year, which has could be a reason to expect the same with this year's addition.
A few days ago, MySmartPrice caught sight of a device on Geekbench and speculated that it might belong to the HTC U24 series. The phone has model number 2QDA100, but that doesn't give away too much.
On the design front, the HTC U24 Pro will probably look a lot like its predecessor. That said, it might sport a faster processor —the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. As for the price, the U23 Pro hit store shelves at $350, and the U24 Pro is likely to stay in that range. We can expect the device to have Android 14 out of the box with either 128GB or 256GB of internal storage.
Samsung's Q1 report gives more news on wearables
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Samsung posted its revenue report for Q1 2024, and the company states it earned 71.92 trillion KRW in consolidated revenue and 6.61 trillion KRW in operating profits. During its earnings call, the company stated that its Q1 earnings saw a 12.8% jump compared to last year.
Samsung feels that Galaxy AI is the driving force behind its phone sales, stating it will "seek annual growth." The company also hinted at expanding its Galaxy portfolio by bringing Galaxy AI to "existing and new flagship" products like foldables and tablets. The other side of this business is its wearables, to which Samsung mentions the Galaxy Ring—something that could boost revenue later this year.
Smartwatches will also play a role, with Samsung stating it will look to "meet demand for upgrades through the launch of new premium models." It's unclear exactly what Samsung means here, but rumors of an expanded Galaxy Watch profile have been circulating, with talk of a Galaxy Watch 7, 7 Classic, and 7 Ultra.
Qualcomm's Q2 earnings are looking up
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Earlier this week, Qualcomm posted its fiscal year Q2 2024 financial earnings. The company reported $9.39 billion in revenue for the quarter, an increase of 1% over the same quarter in 2023.
Qualcomm's headset business, which makes up most of its overall revenue, also saw a 1% increase during the quarter, reaching $8.03 billion. While this may not seem like a large gain, it signals healthy growth in the smartphone industry after a bit of a slump just a year ago. By comparison, Qualcomm's FY Q2 2023 earnings revealed a 17% drop in headset and overall revenue, so the recent numbers look positive.
"We are excited about our continued growth and diversification, including achieving our third consecutive quarter of record QCT Automotive revenues, upcoming launches with our Snapdragon X platforms, and enabling leading on-device AI capabilities across multiple product categories," says Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon in a statement.
With its current chipsets, Qualcomm is focusing on AI, which it expects will enable more use cases in various devices, be they phones, PCs, or cars. The company highlights its AI hub for developers to help drive this adoption.
"I want to step back and say, in general, I think AI is going to benefit all the devices," Amon says. "I think AI, when extends to running on-device—besides the benefit of working alongside the cloud—they have completely new use cases privacy, security, latency cost, personalization, etc."
*Drumroll please* Audio emojis are here
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Google is rolling out a unique new feature on its phone app that lets users express themselves with six new sounds.
As spotted by Google News on Telegram, the company is starting to roll out "Audio Emojis" in the Phone app. Users will be able to toggle the feature in the app's settings. From there, Google describes the feature as one that can help users "express emotions and moods with sounds like applause, laughter, sad, trombone, and more."
When enabled, users can call their friends and family and start experimenting with the new sounds. On the Phone app's call screen, there will be an option to expand the Audio Emoji's row of faces above the default toolbar.
However, the feature is arriving first in the app's beta version. According to DroidLife, Audio Emojis have been spotted on a Pixel 8 Pro running version 128.0.6 of the beta Phone app.
Those are some of the biggest stories from this week. Meanwhile, here are some other stories that are worth catching up on:
- Instagram's new Stories stickers let you turn your story into a music template
- There's a problem in tech, and it's your fault
- Samsung's customization app Good Lock is finally on the Play Store
- Samsung reportedly readies Wear OS 5 for the Galaxy Watch 6
- Gemini becomes a more capable Google Assistant replacement with latest update
- The Amazfit Helio Ring is set to go on sale very soon
- If TikTok is banned, a VPN may not be the solution you're looking for
- Google Pixel Fold 2: Rumors, specs, and everything we expect to see
- Amazon earnings boosted by AI, ads, and cost-cutting
- I never expected the Meta Quest to get this beloved gaming franchise
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